Electrical Wiring in the Home/Upgrade shop light to LED tubes

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Expert: Will Babbitt - 4/27/2015

QuestionQUESTION: The shoplight has a plug. I unplugged and Removed balester. Have two yellow wires coming from left side of light. Both tombstones on left are shunted with white wire. I connected black (power) to one yellow and white (neutral) to other yellow. On right side I connected a red from one tombstone to a blue wire on other tombstone. Since there are four wires, I did above twice. The disconnect blew. My LED bulbs do not show an 'L' or an 'N' below the pins. You tube has many videos but do not explain well. What am I doing wrong?

ANSWER: Since this is starting to get complicated, lets start from beginning,

replacing old flour lights with new led fixtures?

OR trying to put leds in existing fixture?

Provide model number of lamp, lights, fixture whatever you are installing and outline of where you want to get to

You have a volt meter ? A six dollar meter from a hardware store is fine,

Then we will figure this out

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I did it. I replaced the two 4' fluorescent tubes in three shoplights with two 4' LED tubes in each shoplight. First I took out the ablest And cut all the wires going to it. On one end I took all the wires coming from the tombstones and connected them to the black power wire. On the other end I connected all the wires coming from the tombstones and connected them to the white neutral wire. Put everything back together, inserted the LED tubes and plugged it in. They work!

Thanks for your help! My workshop in the basement looks like I'm working outside. All three shoplight are bright.

AnswerWay to hang in there I bet it was confusing on how many parallel circuits were in the fixture the lights are nice arent they?

Be careful anyway just because you can see now still be cautious good for you need anything else you know where to find me

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Will Babbitt

Expertise

Electrical issues of all types, wiring, control, appliances, components, specialty in Electric MOTOR or APPARATUS trouble shooting, electric motors, electrical problems, single phase, three phase, DC, capacitors, elevator MG-Sets, modifications, reverse engineering, VFD Drives, single to three phase convertors.
Repair of most any electrical/mechanical/electronic apparatus, OEM, AC, DC, Industrial Applications,
Three phase, single phase failure mode, determining the root cause of the equipment failure BEFORE failure repeats,
Antique appliances, electric motors, fans, ceiling fans, base mount fans, poor equipment performance,
Modifications, habitual failures, vibration, redesign, obsolete issues, collectible items restored, rewinding. Owner of EMR Repair Inc www.emrrepair.com
More information on electric motors, under Engineering/Motors
Ask about any electrical or mechanical problems in the home, office, or even at your work.
B2B or business to business CONSULTING I can do but it would be a much more complex issue, that would require a significant amount of time.
repair@mearservice.com from there we can discuss and begin work on about anything.
Industrial electric motors, controls, troubleshooting, vibration, alignment, any type of industrial or commercial electric/electrcical equipment
For the home owner, renter, apartment if you have odd things going on, describe to me, photos are normally very helpful, appliances, heating and air conditioning issues, light switches, installation, DIY PROJECTS FOR THOSE NOT EDUCATED IN ELECTRICAL, we can do some things, but for safety and sanity reasons, I may refer you to a local electrician, and help you find one, help you with pricing and even speak directly with anyone you hire if you have issues,

Experience

Over thirty years with a major repair and sales company, VP of Operations, and former owner of my own specialty repair shops,
MEAR Services local to Kansas City Missouri
EMR Repair Inc., located in Kansas City Missouri,
2014 sold both businesses to JCI Industries, Lee's Summit Missouri wbabbitt@jciind.com
Evaluation and repair of electrical/mechanical apparatus. Electrical and mechanical repairs, trouble shooting including, vibration and balance issues.
About.com provides this service, and the huge costs to provide help on about any subject. They provide the servers, the people to vet the experts, costs that would be the same as operating a good sized business,
They should be appreciated for what they do, the huge costs and the great help they provide for free,
Electric motor questions, can be answered here but there is a dedicated category that has other experts to help and add to a solution.
Other common questions, are noises in the walls, breakers tripping, devices not starting or shutting down for no apparent reason, smoke alarms buzzing, thermostat change outs, or sizing wire or needing information for a new project, but anything can be resolved, anything, with enough effort and patience,
DIY, with electrical is possible, but in most cases the use of a simple ohm meter or volt meter is needed, they can be purchased at any hardware store for a few bucks.
If you have smoke, or smell smoke, don't be writing me, call 911 the Fire Department has no problem looking for smoke smells, better then spraying water on a blazing fire.
DO NOT GET CAUGHT INVESTIGATING AND TRAPPED IN A BASEMENT LOOKING FOR A BLOWER FAILING<
As to the tip jar, it is up to you, it is appreciated, every expert spends out of pocket that I know, we spend on IP time, computer wear, printing documents, books, and of course our time, but if we prevent a $400 service call, we did well,

OrganizationsFormer IBEW, EASA, IEEE, UL, ..............

PublicationsSEE ELECTRIC MOTOR CATEGORY

Education/Credentials10 plus years, various Technical Schools, followed by Industrial College Credit and non Credit Courses, electronics courses, experience in most any electrical apparatus, electric motors and generators, AC OR DC, fractional to above 5000HP, other electrical apparatus, slip rings, sleeve [plain] bearings, lubrication, identification-no data plate, control components, service and sales.
I have continued night schools for decades, the list is extensive.
I have been in the business of repairing most anything with wires or mechanical parts for decades, I have some helpful hints and directions you won't have to dig up. Or hopefully not have to pay a huge service call invoice to find.